House of Hades
by Glory Road
Summary: Sequel to The Mark of Athena. Percy and Annabeth venture into the depths of Tartarus while Coach Hedge, Frank, Hazel, Jason, Leo, Nico, and Piper attempt to manage the endless challenges above.


Percy

Percy's ears felts on fire as Annabeth emitted a bloodcurdling scream as their descent intoTartarus began. Percy grasped Annabeth's hand as the screams of their friends grew distant. As soon as he had released his grip on the ledge, he no longer felt as if they were being pulled down by Arachne, rather, he found himself in a free fall, but not the typical falling sensation. Gravity did not seem to apply wherever they were going; it felt as if they were being sucked into a vacuum cleaner, a very big and monstrous one at that. As the light of the above world drifted out of view, Percy found himself being sucked into a pit of pure darkness. The pit seemed to radiate dread as he felt a chill wash over him with a feeling of pure terror. Annabeth shivered in his arms, but their embrace did not waver as they continued to fall.

The two held each other close in their descent to the pit of doom for what seemed like an eternity. Percy felt almost a comforting silence between the two of them, despite the radiating sense of terror within the pit.

"How far do we fall?" Percy asked in an uneasy and wavering tone, shattering the silence. The fear in his voice surprised himself as he usually held any fear within himself in check.

"No one really knows," Annabeth retorted in an uncharacteristically confused manner, "I've read that falling from the Earth to Tartarus is like falling from the Heavens to the Earth."

"So… like falling off the Empire State building?" Percy thought aloud. "It feels like we've fallen for a lot longer."

"Well, in the legends, it apparently took 9 days to fall from the Heavens." Annabeth informed as Percy's mind exploded a million thoughts entering his mind. How would they eat? They couldn't survive 9 days without food. If they did manage to fall to the bottom before starving, wouldn't the fall kill them? If they survived the fall they'd be left terribly injured and would be as good as dead to any monster.

Percy collected goosebumps all over his body and let a cold shiver escape as fear over took him. His breath shortened and entered a state of panic.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled grasping him tighter. "We'll be fine! We're together, remember?"

"Together." Percy repeated as the comforting thought seemed to warm his whole body and calm him down. Percy now understood what Nico mentioned about going insane down here, thankfully he was not alone as Nico had been.

"Thanks." Percy whispered, still recovering from his panic attack.

"Don't worry about it Seaweed Brain." Annabeth replied light-heartedly.

The vacuum sensation coming from deeper in the pit seemed to become more powerful, reflexively Percy tightened his grip on Annabeth as they traveled deeper and deeper into the abyss.

"Percy," Annabeth moaned sounding in severe pain, "cut my ankle." He had forgotten about the spider web attached to her ankle.

Percy felt Riptide had returned to his pocket. He released his sword arm from grasping Annabeth and removed his uncapped the pen skillfully with only one hand. The light emitted from his sword blinded him temporarily as his eyes had adjusted to the endless darkness. Thankfully, it allowed him the vision to see what he was going to cut off of Annabeth's ankle. Carefully, he sawed off the web and Annabeth let out a sigh of relief.

Together, the two plunged deeper and deeper into the unknown with no end in sight as a cryptic voice shattered the comforting silence and crept into their minds

_Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase, my old friends, welcome! Soon, we shall be reacquainted! _

"Who...?" Annabeth whispered. Percy immediately recognized this voice from his past and his heart sank deep into his chest.

"Kronos..." Percy replied with fear recognizable in his voice.

_It's nice to know that you remember me, Perseus! I am quite disappointed with Athena's spawn, however, I will not hold that against her. You have entered my home, where I have dwelt for thousands of years! You are alone, while I hold an army! You **will** bow down before me._

Percyit difficult to believe that Kronos has been able to regather his essence in such a short time, yet the realization that Annabeth and him were alone verses an unknown army shook him to the bone. The Titan had barely been defeated within the limitations of a human body which ultimately caused his demise. Here, within Tartarus, they were no match for the Lord of Time.

**I realize this chapter is incredibly short, however, I felt the need to introduce what is happening before I dive into the story. Next chapter will also be short as I introduce what is happening with the group of demigods above.**


End file.
